Anti-casino TV ad hits Richmond

NOTE: This blog has been corrected to reflect updated information about the group behind the effort, Stop the Mega Casino. LAV

Mailers and a television ad hit Richmond over the weekend calling on residents to oppose the construction of an Indian casino on Point Molate.

The anti-casino campaign is funded by a group titled Stop the Mega Casino, a coalition of card rooms including the Oaks in Emeryville and the California Grand Casino in Pacheco. The card rooms don’t want the competition.

Of course, unless you know which companies are part of this coalition, the name won’t mean much.

The TV spot depicts the seamiest sides of Richmond and suggests the arrival of Las Vegas-style gaming will further deteriorate the city’s already troubled neighborhoods.

I’m still working on obtaining an electronic copy of the mailer but here is the TV ad, kindly provided by its producers, Whitehurst & Mosher of San Francisco.

And here is a transcript of its wording:

Out of town developers are trying to build a mega casino in Richmond. They’re pushing Las Vegas dreams and promising jobs. But if we allow them to make a casino at Point Molate, the drug dealing stays in Richmond, the loan sharking stays in Richmond, the poverty stays in Richmond, the crime stays in Richmond. If we approve the mega casino, what won’t stay in Richmond is the gambling money we’ll never see and the jobs we’ll never get. Call the Richmond City Council. Tell them no to the mega casino.

Lisa Vorderbrueggen

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It figures that Mayor McLaughlin and Councilman Ritterman would hook up with a coalition of out of town gambling concerns. Seems they have no problem advocating for gambling jobs in our surrounding communities.

In the meantime their policies here cost us jobs at Chevron and all the supporting entities. McLaughlin and Ritterman, also, know about increased crime. They help it along with their mamby-pamby views on check points in high risk areas.

RR, Uninvited Columnist

I can see how cocktail waitresses will stir resentment.

RR, Uninvited Columnist

Richmond offers: Drug-dealing, loan-sharking, crime and poverty. That’s a good fit for a mega-casino–a city going nowhere. What do the city fathers have to offer a bio-tech company? Willing human subjects?

K Williams

Who can believe this nonsense. Of course the card clubs are going to be opposed. All you have to do is look around and see all of the great things that Indian gaming has done in the state and it does not take long to conclude that we should all get behind this effort and support the project. After all, Chevron has left and we know have a local tribe and developer who will come in clean it all up and make it so we can actually use the property for something useful that will generate thousands of new jobs and bring some pride back to Richmond. Do not let the card clubs and their hypocrisy fool you, this is a great thing for Richmond.

Jon Garner

There will be no thousands of jobs for Richmond from this casino. That is the nonsense being touted about this project that should not be believed. The tribe is not local, they are from Mendocino and are simply puppets of the Yocha Dehe. This is pure reservation shopping and the force behind it is money. Money for politicians, not for you and me.

Mike F.

Where does the money come from? From people in the community – Richmond and surrounding area. Let’s put jobs toward making a product that people use, not an entertainment vice that just redistributes money in the area. Make a product that people outside of Richmond and the Bay Area need, then use those profits to benefit the local workforce, merchants and contractors. Simply redistributing discretionary income (if that) does not solve the economic woes of Richmond.